Slow

I first knew Douglas Gayeton as the creator of Molotov Alva, the digital avatar who explored the meaning of life in Second Life. Now, some three years later, Gayeton is pushing the boundaries of multimedia once more, but this time in a distinctly un-digital context. With SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town, his first book, Gayeton introduces the people of Pistoia and their progressively rare, digitally unfettered way of life in rural Italy. SLOW, which emerged from a year Gayeton spent five years ago in Pistoia, also marks the debut of his new and richly engaging, journalistic form of remix storytelling.

Using flat film techniques, Gayeton layers most of his portraits of Pistoia with his own, handwritten notes, anecdotes, recipes, quotes, and historical facts, bringing context and color to each. What emerges is an interactive, sepia-toned celebration of the region's romantic, slow, and profoundly authentic existence.

Gayeton explains:

—Marcia Stepanek